Embalmer&#39;s tissue separator



QCL 7, 1952 J, w, RENFRQ 2,612,678

EMBALMERS TISSUE SEPARATOR 7 Filed Feb. 13, 1950 Jenifer m R lNVE NTbR.

Patented Oct. 7, 19 52 uaMBALMEas TISSUE SEFARATO-Et lenifer'lll. BQ JiI nci nati,, -Qhic ApplieatienFebruary 13, 1950-, Serial No. 143,850

' a Glaims. (01. even) The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements on instruments. which are expressly adapted for use by embalmers: and. has reference, more particularly, to. astructurall-y novel instrumentality which may be skillfully and expertly used for separating a blood vesselfrom' surrounding fascia so that the vessel, either vein:

or artery, may be exposed and accessibly held up and away from the fascia while making an in-.

cision With a scalpel. I r

More specifically, the invention has to. do. with a tissue separator whose construction'and fea.-.. tures are. such that the user may perform the taskwith requisite skill in order that the chosenblood vessel may be probed loose and raised suffie ciently for cleaning and/or incisingthe vessel.

after which the instrument is then turned over or inverted to spread the incision so that the customary vein or arterial tube may be inserted into the vessel for drainage requirements. 7

In reducing to practice a preferred embodiment of the invention, a probing blade some six inches or so in length andless than an inch in width is provided and the same is constructed from metal;

bone, hard commercial plastics, hard rubber-"or any appropriate material which will withstand the cleavage thrust of the scalp-e1 cutting-edge. The instrument takes the form-of a blade which is substantially semi-cylindrical in cross section so as to provide a flat surfaced scalpel accommodating top, and a convex or cambered bottom throughout the views-i Other objects and: advantages'will become more readily apparent from the'following' description and the accompanying illustrative drawings,

'In the accompanying"drawings; wherein like numerals areemployed to designate :like parts Figural is perspective viewof an embalmerfs tissue separatingand scalpel accommodating in-v s-trument constructed "in accordance with the. principles of' the present invention showing a fragmentary portion of alivesseliabout to be cut with the 'aid 'ci the'v-is-haped groove-means;

Figure 2'is a perspective view like Figure 1 showing the scalpel in coacti'on withthe'straight grgove, Figure 3 is a perspective view showingthemanner in which the instrument is turned through 190 to bringthe-convex bottom upwardly for bowing the vessel'and spreading the incision.

Figure- 4'is a cross section on thelin 51-4 of Figure l,.looking in the directionof the arrows.

prevent the instrument from accidentally slipping from under the vessel.

What is more, and perhaps the most outstanding achievement, had to do with a hard metal or equivalent blade with or without the stated facilities but having a flat scalpel accommodating surface wherein said surface is provided with especially arranged and coacting grooves to materially assist in the incision of the vessel and to prevent the operator from cutting himself by systematically anchoring and minimizing the possibility that the scalpel will slip off of the bearing surface provided by said instrument.

" Referring now to the drawings by distinguishing reference numerals and accompanying lead lines, the tissue separator, asa structural entity, is denoted by the numeral 6 and as before stated, is a rigid blade of appropriate dimensions. In shape, as shown in Fig. 2,, the. body por ion of: the. blade) is b tantial y semi-circular in r ec.- tion. This construction is adopted in order to provide a fiat scalpel base or platen 3. This is referred to as the top and is primarily used for holding the vessel up and away fromthe fascia to facilitate making the incision. The vessel is denoted at H] and the scalpel at l2, said scalpel having a handle l4 and a cutting blade It.

The surface or side of the instrument commonly referred to as the underside or bottom is convex as denoted at l8. Thisconvexity is used for bowing or cambering the vessel It so that the incision 20 will be spread open for insertion of a vein or arterial tube (not shown).

There is a circular head 22at one end of the instrument having flat and convex surfaces and at the opposite end of the convex side the instrument is camfered or otherwise beveled as at 24 to provide a probing and piloting tip 26.

The features so far described are important but the main new development with which I am essentially concerned is the Ways and means on the flat top 8 which assists in performing the cutting operation with the scalpel and at the same time provides an anti-slipping surface for the scalpel blade. Practice has shown that it is desirable that this be accomplished through the provision of simple grooves. There is a linearly straight groove 28 which is especially adapted for 3 use by some embalmers. In addition, there is a V-shaped groove, that1is V-shaped in top plan, whose branches are denoted at 30 and 32. Preferably the adjacent or coacting end of the straight groove merges into and lines up with the crotch in the V. The groove 28 is for making a straight incision. The grooves 30 and 32 are for making a V-shaped incision, which is' preferred by some operators. The grooves themselves are preferably V-shaped'in cross section and constitute a definite safety factor as they prevent the operator from injuring himself due to the scalpel slipping from the so-called platen 8. The piloting tip means is to facilitate the entrance into the tissue when initially probing and preliminary to separating the blood vessel from the surrounding fascia.

To incise the vessel the separator is slipped under the vessel with the grooved or flat side up and the scalpel is pressed upon the vessel over the groove, making it unnecessary tame a slicing motion but merely to press the scalpel into the groove, thus quickly and safely cutting the vessel.

A careful consideration of the foregoing de-- scription in conjunction with theinvention as illustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impressionof the alleged features-f merit and novelty sufficient to clarify the construction of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement ofparts may be resorted to in actual practiceso long as no departure is made from the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A tissue separating instrument of the class shown and described comprising an elongated probing blade adapted to separate a vein or artery from the surrounding fascia and to expose and accessibly hold the same up and away from the fascia while making an incision with a scalpel, said blade havin a relatively large disk-like head at one end, being substantially semi-cylindrical in cross section and providing a flat surface on one side and a convex surface on the other side, being beveled at theopposite end to provide a piloting tip, a groove of V-shaped form provided in the flat side adjacent the head, and a second straight groove having one end merging into the crotch portion of the V-shaped groove.

2. A tissue separating instrument of the class shown and described comprising an elongated probing blade adapted to separate a vein or artery from the surrounding fascia and to expose and accessibly hold same up and away from said fascia while making an incision with a scalpel, one surface of said blade being flat and constituting an incising platen for the scalpel, said surface having scalpel receiving guiding and antiposed to said platen, being convex and constituting a vein bowing, stretching and incision spreading surface, said flat surface being provided at one end with a groove which is V-shaped in top plan and V-shaped in cross-section, and being further provided with a second groove which is straight from end to end with one end merging into the crotch portion of said -shaped groove.

JENIFER W, BE'NFRO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references, are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Des. 16,843 Kerner Aug. 10, 1886 297,351 Cody Apr. 22, 1884 338,601 Ketcham Mar. 23, 1886 Devore May 25, 1897 

